Are We There Yet? /
Voyage Out / Autumn In NY / Fair Grounds / English Waltz / Do Not
Disturb / Streams /

(rec. 12. Januar 1998, New York City)

Jürgen Friedrich (p), JohnHebert (b), Tony Moreno (dr)

"… The music swings lightly, but
this is not by any means easy listening. There is an elegant
sophistication to both the compilation and the improvisations, which
while never showy nonetheless disclose a technical superiority. …
The trio`s ability to change tempo and dynamics at a moment`s notice
is either the result of remarkable clairvoyance or (more likely)
solid preparation. The results are both enterteining and
enlightening , and this compellingly understated recording charms in
a subtile manner that is almost breathless in its beauty."

"..... Raffel sounds particularly
resplendant here and both Klare und Kretzschmar turn in exhilarating
solos solos. Across all of the pieces the group deftly balances
post-bop inclinations around a clearly articulated harmonically
astute center. They recognize the importance of tradition and
regularly refract it through a well-tempered collective creative
lens. Taken in succession the pieces represent mixed levels of
success, but all are well worth referencing by inquisitive ears."

"Edith Steyer`s quintet performs a
set of solid hard bop that shows the young German leader drawing as
much from the smooth exuberance of Benny Carter …. as she does from
Charlie Parker. Her band can certainly swing and I hear a lot of
future potential in sultry exotica like the moody blues ballad
"Night Has Come" and the modal transformation of the folk ballad
"Scarborough Fair" into a ravishing vehicle worthy of Coltrane and
Miles. "Scarborough Fair" is a stunning performance that indicates
how far Steyer`s music may yet grow."

"An interesting big-band project
exploring the compositions of composer Rainer Tempel. Despite the
title, there isn`t a tremendous amount of emphasis on melody (either
on the title track or on the album as a whole). But, despite some
caveats, this is an impressive outing, in its way as strong as
anything by the excellent Maria Schneider. …. My major beef with
this album is that Tempel resorts a bit too often to the kind of
block-rockin` beats heard on the little track and elsewhere. He
loads them down with enough dynamic variations to keep things
interesting, but nonetheless Tempel digs into this bag a bit too
often for just one album. That aside, however, this will please fans
of contemporary big band stuff."

"Though the leader has long worked
with the SFB and WDR big bands in Europe, this is the 59 year-old`s
first solo album. While it must be a challenge to scale down to trio
format, the strength of playing he developed soloing over larger
ensembles makes this an exceptionally assertive outing. … Though
Römer could easily slide by on sound without substance, he
improvises with the color and expression of an impassioned and
experienced story-teller. "My One And Only Love" is a perfect
vehiclefor his romanticism, exhibiting more than a little of what
Coltrane added to the same ballad."

.......... Schmidt and his handmates
combine pitty invention with impressive rapport. If you want
confirmation of why the small combo tradition of Wes Montgomery
remains such a potent influence in the contemporary mainstream, this
solid set of seventeen originals offers impressive testimony."

"... Haw Haw is a sort of free
Jazz/Rock fusion that in the course of fourteen often-short tracks
spins a web of well played performances relying on commercial
viability as much as creative vision: The lead voice seems to be the
electic guitarist, Kalle Kalima, whose roots dig into the crossover
market with forceful wantonness. …"

"...The snotty improvisation
collective seems, on sound-carrier "3", even more red, more
possessed, more purified than in its already turbulent past. ...It
is amazing - another time the actually impossible mission works. And
great avantgarde comes into being. And we make ask: When does Rudi
Mahall mark out this crazy Red Space for himself?"

"... an interesting, above all
humorous straight ahead CD. .... Especially its versions of Cole
Porter´s "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" and Jerome Kern`s "Nobody Else
But Me" are based on with and irony - signs so unfortunately not
often seen in mainstream jazz."

"...Kaufmann shows with this trio,
that not only US American musicians like Brad Mehldau but also their
European collegues are interested in new versions of the classic
jazz piano trio. ...Kaufmann is master of confusion. In "three
thimbles" he offers phrases of clear harmony and melody, which he
continually varies, musical target points, which he changes again
and again, forcing the listener to his point of view, pushing him to
open his ears to new aspects of the seemingly clear. ..."Weave" is,
no doubt, one of the most exciting releases these days."

"The bass is gently murmuring a
softly up and down rising theme, a piano is sprinkling chords in a
loose sequence, the drums are touching on irregular rhythmic
structures, then two saxophones with a floating melody. "Minnehaha"
is the title of this composition of saxophone player Christof
Griese. It is the probably most beautiful out of ten pieces
presented by the Christof Griese Quartet on its CD "New Friends",
and typical for the band`s musical concept. ...The mixture
between concert experience and studio spontaneity does the CD
noticeably good."

"... Speer is a refreshing voice, and the foil
added by Wogram`s trombone gives this group a dynamic sound. They
are a fine assemblage of highly talented musicians who gel in a most
invigorating way." (Cadence 2/98)

"....Marco Piludu crosses jazz
frontiers. This leaves various effects on music. One is that he
likes to play with moods and tone colours, spinning out of them
filigree harmony webs, and arranging in them imaginatively his
partners´unrestricted soli. In addition, he has his special
relations, i.e. to Gordon Summer, better known as Sting, ....who
several times has gone for trips into the jazz area, ....whose
catchy tunes and grooves have impressed and caused Piludu to
transpose and interpret them newly in his own way of jazz playing"
.... (PLÄRRER 10.97)

"Peter Fulda`s piano trio project is
augmented by the wordless vocals of Celine Rudolph whose timbre and
adventurous style of scat singing suggests across between Sheila
Jordan and Lauren Newton. ............ and the adventurous ballad
"Candratala" where Rudolph`s a capella intro combines with Gier`s
ostinato pulse and Fulda`s dramatic use of the interior in a
compelling musical journey that I hope this quartet will pursue more
fully in future projects"

"....a still scarcely noticed musician. Without
any reason .... .Fiery, swinging hard, energetic or relaxed -
Johannes Enders always finds the right balance and the right sound.
He refined his voice, already concise enough for five years, leaving
its hallmark on his own compositions as well as on popular themes
from others." (Jazzthing 18/97)

"".... Sometimes it just takes a
while till things come together, till an arduous seed begins to
grow. As the liaison between reed player Christof Griese and drummer
Niko Schäuble. ... Griese`s name (he is from Berlin) ought to be
found in front of the national Top Ten of young jazz lions, after
this record at the latest."(Jazz Podium 5.97)

".... The old tom still catches
mices. Even at the retiring age of 71 years Benny Bailey continues
going on a forey of Europe, surrounding himself especially by hungry
kittens. .... Never in his projects of the nineties the agile senior
player sounded so energetically and motivated as in the meeeting
with these young maniacs." (Jazz Podium 10.96)

"... The sax and floot player
Christof Griese, bassist Martin Lillich, drummer Olaf Zschiedrich
and the Polish top musicians Pjotr Wojtasik, trumpet, and Leslaw
Mozdzer, piano, interchange with partly terrific soli and sensitive
interplay. .... Up to now the origin for music with the distinctive
atmosphere of a throbbing, restless capital was, at the outside,
assumed to be New York. Finally, however, Germany is a match. Let`s
call it capital jazz." (Jazz Podium 10.96)

"... The young composer knows perfectly, how to
build up contrasting tensions in his pieces, how to underlay idylls
with mean and menacing undertones, how to drive harmony into
hystery, how to blow up sound explosions , conveying thereby
atmosphere, telling and retelling tales..." (Bayern2Radio)

".... This CD is a welcome return to those
days, a tantalizing dark stew of funk, blues and electricity
like few folks cook up anymore. If in A Silent Way and Agartha
are among your favorite records of all time, you`ll enjoy this."
(CADENCE 8.96)